{"id":9896,"date":"2026-04-15T07:57:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T21:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bardonnews.com.au\/index.php\/2026\/04\/15\/the-april-5-show\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T07:57:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T21:57:10","slug":"the-april-5-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bardonnews.com.au\/index.php\/2026\/04\/15\/the-april-5-show\/","title":{"rendered":"The April 5 Show"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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From Arizona to the Showgrounds: A Country in Motion, One Call at a Time<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

From a Brisbane operator standing in a vast Arizona mine to a phone box in Newcastle, from the Murray River to the Nullarbor, and deep into the sheds of the Sydney Royal Easter Show \u2014 this week\u2019s Australia All Over<\/em> unfolded the way it always does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not as headlines.
But as voices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each call a window. Each story a fragment of a much bigger picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simon Bailey \u2014 Brisbane to Arizona, One Pitch at a Time<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Simon Bailey wasn\u2019t calling from home \u2014 he was on a mine site in Arizona, managing dust on haul roads at what he reckons is the biggest open-cut mine he\u2019s ever seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His Brisbane-based company, Barion, manufactures road maintenance products. But this job didn\u2019t come through a formal process. He drove up to the site a year ago, saw the scale of the dust problem \u2014 \u201clike Mars\u201d \u2014 and pitched a solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A pilot program followed. Then a 12-month contract. Now discussions about rolling it out across five more mines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The scale still catches him. Hundreds of trucks, each carrying up to 400 tonnes, running non-stop. A place where time barely matters \u2014 no holidays, no slowdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And yet, the personal detail cuts through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019ll miss his wedding anniversary. His family\u2019s in Noosa. He\u2019s in the desert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s the trade-off behind the global story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trevor Richards \u2014 The Murray River, Seen Properly<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Trevor had just completed a tinny rally from Mildura to Mannum \u2014 92 boats moving down the Murray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What stood out wasn\u2019t the trip itself, but the contrast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the Victorian side: protected riverbanks, thick with red gums, grasses and reeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the New South Wales side: livestock access, degraded banks, a visible difference you don\u2019t need a report to understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t believe it hasn\u2019t been addressed,\u201d he said \u2014 especially with the Murray-Darling Basin Authority in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then came the second observation, picked up from a farmer they camped with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almonds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The numbers stuck: 12.5 million litres of water per hectare. About 13 litres per almond. Roughly 3,000 litres for a single almond latte.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not outrage \u2014 just perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The kind you only get when you\u2019re sitting on the river, hearing it firsthand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stratis \u2014 A Phone Box and a View on Sport<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Stratis was calling from a phone box near Newcastle Interchange \u2014 visiting family, walking the streets early, waiting for the day to unfold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what he really wanted to talk about was sport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That night, he was heading to Maitland to watch women\u2019s football \u2014 Newcastle Jets against Melbourne City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His take was simple: women\u2019s sport feels more genuine. More effort. More sincerity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Macca pushed back \u2014 drifting into rugby league salaries and the idea of docking players\u2019 pay if they lose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMake them try harder,\u201d he joked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stratis didn\u2019t mind the pushback. It was the kind of conversation that wanders \u2014 but lands somewhere real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quentin \u2014 Townsville, Finally Cooling Down<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Quentin\u2019s call from Townsville carried that unmistakable sense of relief that only comes after a long, oppressive wet season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the first time in months, the temperature had dipped below 20 degrees. After weeks of heat, humidity and flooding, it felt like the city could finally breathe again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was heading out for a run along The Strand \u2014 something locals don\u2019t take for granted when the weather turns \u2014 taking in clear skies and a calm morning that had been missing for a while.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After his run, he was heading to drop off Easter eggs to people doing it tough. No fuss, no big framing \u2014 just something built into his Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sean Haines \u2014 Bacon, Flood Recovery and the Meaning of the Show<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sean Haines from Yugara stood beside a prize-winning middle cut of bacon \u2014 first place at the Sydney Royal Easter Show.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Photo Credit: Munro Quality Meats\/Facebook<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

As a steward, he wasn\u2019t there for himself but to help present the best produce from across the state \u2014 the kind of display that reminds people where their food actually comes from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Macca lingered on that point. In a world that often feels chaotic, there\u2019s something grounding about seeing real food, made properly, judged on quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Sean\u2019s perspective didn\u2019t stop at the show bench.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back home, the reality is still unfolding. More than three years after devastating floods, some families are still living in temporary pods, still waiting for permanent housing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The community continues to push forward \u2014 restoring assets, supporting one another \u2014 but the timeline is longer than most would expect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The show, in that sense, becomes more than an event. It\u2019s a moment of recognition \u2014 of effort, resilience, and continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judy Hannon \u2014 Shows, Change and The Block<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Judy Hannon had come up from regional Victoria with a purpose \u2014 to see how Sydney\u2019s Royal Easter Show compared to Melbourne\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a CWA Home Industries judge, she\u2019s spent years around show culture, watching entries come and go, standards shift, and participation ebb and flow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melbourne, she said plainly, has changed. Entry numbers are down. The feel is different. Not what it once was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Sydney, she was walking the sheds, comparing layouts, observing how things are run \u2014 taking it in with the eye of someone who knows what she\u2019s looking at.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back home, things are quieter \u2014 \u201cno nonsense\u201d \u2014 though not without interest. Her area is hosting The Block<\/em>, bringing a different kind of attention to what is usually a steady, low-key place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gus \u2014 Horses, the Nullarbor and the Cost of Distance<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Gus was somewhere east of the Nullarbor, heading home after delivering 20 horses to cattle stations in the Kimberley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s part of what he does \u2014 sourcing and transporting horses across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This trip? Around 11,000 kilometres all up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fuel alone? Around $14,000 to $15,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He spoke about waiting out road closures, navigating cyclone-affected routes, and taking each leg as it comes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But also about the moments \u2014 sunrises over the ocean, the view from the truck along the cliffs, the sense that every lap of Australia is different depending on the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trevor Wright \u2014 Lake Eyre Coming Alive<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

From William Creek, Trevor Wright described a year he hadn\u2019t seen in decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rain has transformed the landscape. Vegetation is everywhere. The lake is filling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pelicans have arrived in huge numbers \u2014 tens of thousands \u2014 forming rookeries across the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then there\u2019s the colour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In places like Madigan Gulf, the interaction of salt, temperature and water can turn vast stretches of the lake pink \u2014 kilometres wide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If flows from the Diamantina and Cooper Creek systems arrive as expected, it could become a major fill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s something you don\u2019t just hear about out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You watch it unfold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark Kierens \u2014 The Slow Loss of Glassmaking<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At the show, Mark Kierens \u2014 a stained glass specialist \u2014 spoke about a quieter shift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Australia no longer manufactures large-scale architectural glass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Factories have closed. Skills are disappearing. Materials are harder to source.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even stained glass is becoming rarer, with many overseas producers shifting to solar panel glass instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are only a handful of tradespeople left doing the work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not dramatic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it\u2019s final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cheryl \u2014 Spinning Wool, One Thread at a Time<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Cheryl from Jervis Bay sat at a spinning wheel made from Huon pine \u2014 a 50-year-old piece still doing exactly what it was built to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She talked through the process \u2014 feeding raw merino wool into the wheel, spinning it one way, then reversing it to create a balanced yarn strong enough to use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a tactile, precise craft. One that relies on feel as much as technique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She spoke about natural dyes \u2014 eucalyptus leaves, bark, plant-based colours \u2014 and how they bring beauty, but also challenges. Without strong mordants, they fade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, the craft endures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Younger people are coming through, just in different ways \u2014 night groups, weekend sessions, community guilds like the one in Eastwood where courses run year-round.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Cheryl, it started with curiosity \u2014 seeing a spinning wheel in a shop and deciding to try.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She never really stopped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n